


make me no promises

by witchy_country616



Category: From Dusk Till Dawn: The Series
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-05
Updated: 2016-07-05
Packaged: 2018-07-21 17:13:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7396363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchy_country616/pseuds/witchy_country616
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p><i>It’s an eternity bracelet.</i> It’s the beginning of the end.<br/>Richie's thoughts on this relationship with Santanico during season 2.</p>
            </blockquote>





	make me no promises

**Author's Note:**

> My first time writing for these characters. Please be kind.

_It’s an eternity bracelet._ It’s the beginning of the end.

He doesn’t know it then, of course. He _actually_ thinks he’s doing something right, giving the lady what he wants, some proof that he is in it for the long haul, that they’re partners. He forgets that Santanico is not like other women – is not even _only_ a woman.

He has never been good with human interactions, anyway. She knew that, didn’t she?

He thinks about Marilyn Monroe and _diamonds are a girl’s best friend_ , watched once upon a time in his teenagers’ years when he and Seth tried to give musicals a chance. It’s a stupid idea, and he almost laughs at himself for even thinking it. But then Vanessa pops into his head. He’s reminded of big dreams and arguments with his brother and reconciliations with flowers and jewels. Vanessa was a bitch, sure, but she was the closest example of female behavior he had ever had. So if jewels had worked to appease Vanessa, it could work to show Santanico how much he loved her, right?

_I can give you what you want, but I cannot give you what you need._ Yeah, it backfires big time. _Not until I’m finished with him_ , she adds as a promise, a way to soften the blow. He nods in understanding even as he can see his future with her vanishing right before his eyes. She kisses him softly on the lips and he feels like a guy whose marriage proposal just got turned down, but whose girlfriend still says they can be together.

So they go back to how things were _before_ , they are still partners, sill fuck whenever they want to (which is a lot), still are two badass _culebras_ getting in trouble in their search of revenge. 

But it’s not the same, is it? He can feel her pulling away and himself doing the same, in this weird expectation of the end. He can’t find in himself to let go, though. He had been fascinated with the goddess in his visions, but in these last few months he had fallen in love with the woman too much for letting go, her vulnerability and her strength, her thirst for revenge, the way she never wanted to go out during the day and liked to lounge in bed, her lack of knowledge of movies that exasperated him, all that came together to create Santanico. So he tells himself nothing has to change, they’re still the same and have a job to do. Later, later he will think about it. And yet, Carlos’ words pop up in his mind more and more, _She will get tired of you. Even if it takes 500 years._ Yeah, try five months.

Seeing uncle Eddie again only worsens things. As much as he loves the guy, he doesn’t want to become _him_. And when (not if, but when) Santanico leaves, what will be left of him? Will he spend the rest of his life alone, pulling jobs by himself? Richie knows himself, he knows how he gets without a purpose, and he doesn’t want to be that guy out in the woods, slowly losing his mind, ever again. Not because of Seth, certainly not because of Santanico.

So he puts on his old glasses and asks himself, what would old Richie do if she weren’t in the picture? Everything becomes crystal clear, and his monkey brain starts working on a plan within the plan.

Now, don’t get him wrong. He never meant to sell her out. He always thought they could both get what they wanted. She would kill the emperor and he would get the empire. That’s the plan.

He puts her in a box, kisses her on the lips, their mouths pressed together closed in an innocent peck, and tries to not think of it as the last time. It still tastes of ashes and lies and untold desires.

He underestimates Malvado, no surprise there. He let him get into his head, thought he couldn’t be seduced when in fact Malvado was dangling everything he ever wanted on his face. Something that could be only his, an enterprise, future, glory. At that moment he would have given up both Santanico and Seth just to prove he could come up on top, to get all he ever wanted. _What a man is willing to sacrifice tells us all we need to know about what he truly desires._

Malvado doesn’t ask him to kill Seth, but he wants Santanico. _She belongs to me_ , he says. It’s bullshit, but then… _what she truly wants, is something you can never give her._ He can’t shake that off, that jab at their mockery of a relationship. So he tries to tell himself she will have another chance of happiness among the gods in El Rey, calculates the odds of her unhappiness here or there, wouldn’t she be able to walk in the sun there? Wouldn’t she be free? Comes up with a hundred other different reasons on why killing Malvado wouldn’t satisfy her. Why is it so difficult to just admit even to himself that he sold her out?

He doesn’t let himself feel guilty until little Kate Fuller and her Christian morals make an appearance. _Isn’t that why you’re doing this? To help her?_ No, he isn’t, but by God how he wishes he were.

He plays it off cool to Seth and Santanico. He won’t apologize for thinking about the big picture, for looking out for himself, and he won’t let them guilty trip him too. Chances are they would be better off his deal had gone through, and they should get off their high horse. None of them are innocent and they’ve all used each other.

He asks her to be a part of this and she answers with _all my life I’ve been the property of men_. He wants to tell her she got it all wrong and he doesn’t – never thought of – her as his property, what he wants is another partner. But she gives him her necklace and it all makes sense. He didn’t mean to, but he did. _It all ends today._ He gets it now, he’s exactly where he wants to be, but she still needs to find herself.

She tells him _sometimes eternity is not forever_ , and what can he do but for once accept her choices? Doesn’t mean her touch hurts any less when he knows this is goodbye.

He can’t help himself, though, but ask her to be in touch. _Don’t be a stranger._ He still wants her to know that no matter what, here’s a place she can always come back to. He hopes at least this message won’t get lost in translation, but her mischievous eyes don’t hold any promises.

He stays there at the garage alone for longer than he would ever admit. And if everyday since then he keeps her necklace on the inside pocket of his jacket as a reminder of the price he had to pay, well, no one has to know.

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed this! Please leave comments/kudos if you can.  
> Also, I borrowed the idea of Richie walking around with Santanico's necklace from LadyAuroraStars' [would you ever love me? not the way i loved you](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6568438) (which is great, btw, go read it!). Can we all just put this as accepted head canon that I hope comes up in s03?


End file.
